An unforgettable documentary (New York Daily News), Crossing the Line is the absolutely fascinating (Hollywood Reporter) story of James Joseph Dresnok, a US Army private who in 1962 stunned the world by walking across the ... more &raquoviolently contested DMZ that cuts Korea in two and defecting to the communist North. Taking full advantage of access granted by the government of North Korea, the axis of evil s mysterious and feared rogue state, director Daniel Gordon (The Game of Their Lives, A State of Mind) combines historical footage with contemporary interviews to both uncover the Kim-Jong Il regime and end 44 years of secrecy and rumor by allowing Dresnok to tell his own story. Despite spending more than half his life living, working, and raising a family in North Korea, Comrade Joe, as Western media dubbed Dresnok when he walked into infamy at the height of the Cold War, remains a man of eternally divided loyalties. From his appalling childhood in a rural 1950 s Virginia foster home, to interviews with his fellow GI s, to amazing footage (New York Post) of Dresnok playing the villain in Kim-Jong Il s personally produced propaganda films, Crossing the Line makes an already compelling story even more so (Hollywood Reporter) by intimately revealing a character worthy of Werner Herzog s delusional hero-victims (New York Sun).&laquo less

Mr.Dresnok, living in Pyongyang since 1962, does the narrative himself. He comes across as a convivial, honest, lying, brutal character, you name it, and saddened beyond repair. "You do not like fishing?", a North Korean sitting next to him at the river remarks casually, causing Mr.Dresnok to ever so slightly draw a hasty cigarette drag.

There it is, the truth of a squandered life in an alien country. The Korean angler sensed it.

There is a certain twisted authenticity to him, a bullyish bonhomy that makes him look almost great to have a beer with at a sports bar at one moment, and look sadistic without further advance notice the next, with nothing but just seconds to spare inbetween.

The famous defector foe/friend (it's hard to tell at times) Robert Jenkins, now relocated to Japan, gets an earful from Mr.Dresnok for having spilled some truths. At that moment, Mr.Dresnok's outrage is a staged emotion, given the Party cadre sitting next to him. The documentary seems to not be entirely fair and balanced on this particular subject, although it serves as an interesting "audio et altera pars" to Mr.Jenkins' autobiography.

Mr.Dresnok, though, knows what his former rocky yet close relationship to the re-defected defector Jenkins calls for: some harsh words, that come across as totally insincere. In the end, this unhappy man is a simple soul who turned himself in for life at a moment's whim.

He genuinely loves his likeable grown-up son who has "Richmond, VA Caucasian college student" written all over his face, yet does barely speak English with a pronounced Korean accent and is going to be, of all choices, a North Korean diplomat.

Mr.Dresnok would also love to see his native Virginia one more time. He probably won't. He chokes up when the British filmmaker presents him with contemporary images of his childhood town, and lets him watch a Quicktime movie on an Apple notebook of former friends talking about him. Apart from his love for his family, that is the only genuine deep emotion Mr.Dresnok allows himself to show.

An excellent documentary about the strangest of fates young men can visit upon themselves."

An interesting look inside North Korea from a U.S. defector

J. Brandt | texas | 02/21/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this documentary at a local video store and I am glad I rented it. James Dresnok (spelling?) had a less than stellar life growing up. Neglected as a child and never finding his way to the "American Dream" he ended up in the Army on the DMZ. A documentary crew was allowed to go to North Korea to interview Mr. Dresnok who has spent his life since 1962 in that Stalinist state. It's an interesting documentary as it also points out that three other soldiers defected to North Korea around the same time. Dresnok is an interesting interview and his "escape" across the minefields, his interrogation by North Korean leaders and his "fame" as a "movie star" in North Korea portraying the U.S. as the Imperalist Evil General in their movies was fascinating to say the least.

Dresnok is a likable person at times and at other times I sat and wondered just how sad he really is in his life. Still, he seems content and he paints an interesting portrayal of life as a man, a husband and a father to his children in North Korea. When the documentary was over I learned a little bit about North Korea and about an American who found his "peace" in that Stalinist regime."

VERY INTERESTING AND OBVIOUSLY CENSORED BY NORTH KOREA

P. McKenzie | USA | 07/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It was intereting to learn more about the soldiers that defected to North Korea but I have to say that James Joseph Dresnok came across to me as being very dishonest about North Korea. I tend to believe Charles Robert Jenkins story a lot more then Dresnok's. IM sure Dresnok said only what his "dear leader" would want him to say. I truely believe that he probably does eat, smoke and drink well only because it is Norht Koreas intentions to groom Dresnoks children to become spies for that country. It sounds like Dresnok pretty much failed at everything he did in life until North Korea saw a use for him to become a breeder of spies. Sure he had a rough life in America as a child and made some bad mistakes. I believe everyone still has a choice in life as to the kind of person you want to be. Sometimes "bad childhood" is too much of a crutch. Jenkins seemed to be the guy that deserved the spotlight in my opinion."

Excellent Documentary! A Must see!

V. Baltusis | Huntington Beach, CA | 07/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was always interested in finding out what prompted anyone wanting to defect to the most secluded country in the world being North Korea! This is the story of Army Private Joe Dresnok who defected to North Korea in broad daylight in August 1962. The documentary is very well done and shows the viewer the life that the four American defectors had to endure. After viewing this film, I got the sense that Joe Dresnok was simply an angry soldier who acted very hastily and thought that defecting to a communist country would solve his problem. The four Americans were never allowed to leave with the exception of Sergeant Charles Jenkins who was finally able to join his wife in Japan in 2005. Joe Dresnok chose his own destiny but I honestly believe that if he was allowed to leave North Korea that he would jump at the chance. Imagine having to live in a country that is virtually a prison where citizens are constantly under surveilance. "Crossing the Line" is a great documentary that finally gives the viewer a chance to see a glimpse of the most secluded country in the world!"

Another country . . .

Ronald Scheer | Los Angeles | 04/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"British director Daniel Gordon has a kind of franchise in North Korea, making films for the West that represent that country from surprising (state-approved) angles - this one curiously about defectors from the US Army who crossed the DMZ from South Korea in the early 1960s. The most prominent of them, James Dresnok from Richmond, Virginia, after a troubled childhood and a failed marriage, found a home there for himself arguably better than any he'd had before. Joined by three others, not unlike himself, he adapted to the culture and became a film star, playing "evil Americans." Meanwhile, he has been married twice and raised children.

Professing to be happy and well looked after by the government, even during the decades of food shortages and starvation that took the lives of uncounted North Koreans, Dresnok is an ambiguous presence in the film, though he has plenty of screen time. At the end, you know you have been told a coherent story of a man's life that is surely only partly the truth that it claims to be. Now in his 60s and in poor health, he comes across as sentimental at times, a gas bag at others, and finally capable of the beatings that he's been accused of by another American soldier who recently returned to the West with his own story to tell. The interview with the director sheds some much needed light on the more mysterious aspects of the entire film, but what we are left with at the end are unanswered questions that we're not likely ever to have answers to. Fascinating."